Splice-bar for rail-joints.



, w. P. & s. G. THOMSON.

SPLICE BAR r01; RAIL Joniws. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13. 1908.

Patented May 31, 1910.

1. 'rfioMsoN Am) Sims: G.-r11o1vrsoN, or PHILADELPHIA, rnnnsrnvaivm, ASSIGNORS TO THOMSON-THOMSON COMPANY, 01: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

A; PARTNERSHIP.

To all whom it concern: 4

Be: it known that we, \VILLIA1\ P. THoM- son land SAMUEL G. THOMSON, both of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Splice-Bars for Rail-Joints, of which the following is a full, clean-and exact description, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification, in which- Figures-1 to 13, inclusive, are sectional views illustrating different forms of" our improved splice-bar. Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing a typical manner in which the bolts may be madeto interlock withthe washers. f

The essential feature of the-present inven tion 'consists-in .the forming of an abrupt head-"or rib portion on the outside ofja splice 'bar' adjacent to its top, of such a size .that it would "interfere with the tighten ng of the-nuts or. turning of the holthea'dif the ""\\"asher or nut lock or milling-out features embodied in our invention were not used. =Tlusabrupt head portion" or rib is formed onthe outer side of'the' bar, of such a size that the-outwardly extending metal may give only suflieient clearance above for the wheel flange on a badlyavorn rail head,

and below occupy space usually reserved for nuts and bolt heads, and the utilization bf which space is a characteristic feature of this-improvement. The other characteristic and new feature is the use of washers'or nut such distance from the bar ash; allo'w'the nuts to turn into a tightened POSltlGlL The size and sha e'of the entire head of our bar and the ocatRm of the upright web embodies other novel and essential characteristics as follows :'The' enlarged head projects to both sidesof a subs'ta n'ti'ally;" vertical web member to "at least as great; a distance inside ;of a vertical plane through the center ofthe web as it' does to theoutside of it, and at-the same time stan s fie fi i ilj the rail 4 awa eness Application mea'mamnis'; 1908. r Serial in. 426,898;

srLI cE-BAn ron'nar'L romgrsf Specification'of Lettersratent. l f a 3 o;

structed with a head projectingbeyond both sides of an upright web have the web of the bar located sufiiciently close to the rail web to cause'the greater portion ofthe head to lie outside of a vertlcal plane through-the center of the web, lve desire to obtain the advantage ofhaving'a clearancebetween the head of the-bar and the rail'w'eb to provide for wear, andat thesat ne time to have the web of the bar located sufiiciently far from the rail web so that it willprovide for the large'inwardly ext-ending; head portion and at the same-time join the foot. portion of the bar adjacent to its middle or at its outer end near the outer edg'e ofthe rail base. A weblocated in this wayv permits a very large and widely projecting head on;the inside of the barwlthout extending" it against {the rai'l web} :By adding'our outer rib to this already large head, we obtain a prac-j,

tieab le bar with the maximum possible efii- 'ciency-iir its .top chord, which- )ortion has always been the weakest part. The feature that'make's possible this widely projectlng ,vertical stiffness and a maximum amount of head with its outer rib is the concaving of V the upper face of the bar and'theltop of r the rib. This "concaving prevents worn wheel flanges frourstriking the bar.

metal in'the head which is at the same time given suflicient clearance fromthe rail web to make ample] provis on for taklng up weal-{this 1s attained by the location of an upright web at a substantial distance from the rail web, by the abruptness of the extension of our enlarged rib. and by utilizing space '-heretofore"reservedfor the nuts and bolt heads; To still furtheil increase the metal in the rib, it may be turned upwardly "at" its outer edge at a point vhere it would clear the. inside of a wheel-flifiige. This results in the forming of a bar with an enlarged groove in thetop'to clear the wheel tlang which groove is located immediately" outside of the head of the rziih'; e j ("We preferably-usefa' spacing member in" "eombinati0n""witl 1f a substantially vertical. *bb ting web and an enlarged rib, with as p s arnh ed ih tith e s. ei he be provided with a vertical 'bolting face. WhlCh overlaps a'portion of the rib or will be spaced at sufiiclent distancefrom the bar to clear the rib. The latter may be accomphshed by the use ofa washer or a nutlock smaller than the diameter of the nut and sufliciently thick to permit the nut as it turns 1n engagement to clear the rib, while the former may be obtained by the use of a wider washer or a barfitting a splice bar havmg an rregularly formed outer face, in wh ch case the washer or bar extends partly over the rib and provides a vertical gripping face for the fulldiameter of the nut or nut-lock. The bar, as mentioned, may extend lengthwise of the joint toylprovide gripping faces for two or more n'utsiy Such an arrangement of washers, nut-locks or bars allows the use of an abrupt rib of large dimensions upon the upper member of :1

.splice bar of any sha e ortypefbut the construction is especial y advantageousfor a plain angle bar'which does not have the enefit of stifi'ening parts'exte'ndin'g belowthe rail base. In ractice it has been'found that the head of t e bar is alwaysthe place where the barfails first,and our invention is designed to strengthen this point by the use of this enlar ed abrupt rib.

The benefit o our improved construction in combination with the washer is very apparent, from the fact that it is not necessary to cut away any of the ribto provide a vertical gripping face for the nut, although this may be done when it is not desiredto use bolts of increased length, but rather to havea,:bar 'th at can be mterchanged with the ordinary bars that may be in track use .and that can be used wlth the standard length bolt.

.From the foregoing, it will be seen that the primary object which we seek is a maximum practical increase in the size of the In the drawings, we have shown a number.

of these modifications, but desire itto be understood that our. invention is not limited exclusively thereto. In these drawings, we have shown our improved form of bars applied to T-rails, but they maybe used 1n connection with .rails of any other section.

In the drawings the numeral 2, .wvherever tions 9, extending below the rail base.

seen, designates the head ofthe bar, which has a bearing at its upper edge underneath the head A of the rail, and which in all the forms shown, has. an abru t reinforcing rib 3. This'head 2 is joined y a substantially vertical web 6 to a foot member 4, which fits the upper surface of the rail base 5.

In Figs. 2, 4 and 6, the bars have a cutaway portion which provides clearance for the upper portions of the nuts 8 and nut locks 7 and also have freel depending por- In the forms shown in Figs. 10 and 12, these freely depending ortions 9 are also shown. Figs. 7 to 13, inc usive, show a washer or filler 10, fitted to the contour of the outer face of the bar and having a vertical gripping face 11, for the nuts 8. In Figs. 1, 3'

and 5, neither the cutting away of the outer face of the bar nor the irregularly shaped. washers are'necessary, since the nut-lock 7* provides suflicie'nt clearance for the nut 8.

In Fig. 8 we show the bolt head in combination with the washer and enlarged rib, and an enlarged or irregular hole through the washer. This construction is used when it is not desired to have upset bolt heads fitting the curvedor irregular outer face of the splice bar. It is evident, therefore, that our improvements a pl equally to a washer combination "with t e with the nut. In this specification, whenolt head as well as ever the nut is mentioned, we wish to inelude also the bolt head in a similar manner to the nut. When the gripping face of the bolt head is vertical. and a washer is used between it and the bar, it is evident that the bolt may be prevented from turning by fitting an enlarged or projectin portion of the bolt on the under side of t e bolt head into an elongated hole or key. way in the washer, and by so doing allow round holes to be drilled through the splice bars instead H of the usual elongated ones.

Figs. 4, 5, 11 and 12 show bars with the outer end of. the abrupt reinforcing rib.3 turned upward; to form- -a groove located immediately outside of the head A of the rail, forming a clearance for the wheel flange.

This invention is particularly valuable in its application'to a splice bar having a vertical bolting web lying close up to the web of the rail and spaced therefrom to a comparativel small extent. Referring especially to i 9,-it is apparent that in such a;

case the on y way to substantially increase the head of the bar withoutthe use of a prohibitive amount of metal or the intro duction of features which are objectionable, isby the use of an abrupt reinforcing rib Regardless of the shape of the bar use,

and the, required spacing members embodied V in our invention.

\ our rib reinforcement may be added thereto a positive increase-in the-stiffness of the b'arf t has been found in; practice'tlhat when more stiffness has been sought :by making the bolting web thicker than usual, the increased thickness not only places the metal whereit affords the least services but it introduces such ditliculties in' the manufaeture of such bars that the advantage of the greater thickness is neutralized, by the damage incurred by the punching of bolt holes in the Web. \Ve overcome these objections by restricting a boltin web .6 to

. a reasonable thickness and by a ding metal abruptly in the. form of a reinforcing rib 3 above the top of the bolt holes through the web 6, thus doing away witlrany interference with easy punching and 'consequent. damage to the bars.

e have also found in practice that the substantial reinforce ment of the head of the splice bar permits a decrease in the essential thickness of the web G, as compared with the webs of angle bars as found in common use,'and that a bar of our improved construction, although having practically the-same-amountof metal, willbe greatly increased in stifi'ness. This permits us, by saving metal in the web, to add our rib to the head'of the bar without increasing the weight of the bar to any a preciab e or objectionable extent. We thus secure much greater efliciency without material increase in cost of material or cost of finishing.

' By referring to Fig. 2, which shows the normal location of the nut with reference to the rail head when used with the usual types of rail joints, it will be seen how limited is 40 the space for adding a rib to the bar above of ounrib down into the space heretofore the clearance for the nut. Such a small rib as could be added would be of no perceptible use in stiffening and increasing the head of a splice bar, and it is only by the extending reserved for the turning of the nut that this lar e increase in the head can be attained.

WI e claim: 1. In a rail joint, a splice baigclam ping bolts and nuts, said bar having.v boltjholes through its upper member and. having a portion of the outer face of said member formed by a substantially vertical face ex-' tending above t'hebolt and interposed betweeen two other faces which diverge outwardly from points below a horizontal plane at the top'of the nuts, part of the lower one of said divergent faces lying vertically below said nuts, said splice bar having a concave-=.upper"fa.ce-slanting downwardly and outwardly from the loweredge of the rail -head=.

- 2.-In a rail join t, a splice bar, clamping bolts and nuts, and a nut-bearing member,

1 slanting downwardly and outwardly. from said spl ice: barhaving iii-concave; upper face the lower edgeof therail head andalso having adjaeentto-the bolt holesa substan-.

tially vertical outer face of greater'height than the diameter of said bolts. and. of less height than the long diameter ofthexnuts, said bar also having a foot member extending outwardly beyond the plane of the inner Y face of's'aid nu 3. In a rail joint, a splice bar, clampin bolts, nuts, and a nut-bearing member, sai

splice bar having a foot member and a substantially vertical web and a head lying entirely below the lower edge of the rail head, said foot member extending outwardly beyond said nut-bearing member and beyond the outer edge of said head, said head projecting outwardly beyond the outer face of said web, the greater portion of the under face of the projection slanting "upwardly and outwardly between horizontal planes at the top of the bolts and at the top of the nuts to form a bearing for said nut-bearing member.

4 In a rail joint, a'splice bar fitted under the rail head, and a nut-bearing member,

stifl'cning rib adjacent to its top and along -its outer face and also having a reinforcing and spiklng member extending outwardly a substantialdistance beyond said rib, said bar also having a concave face inclined downwardly and outwardly from the lower edge of the rail head, and said rib having a downwardly and inwardly slanting under-1 face extending below the top ofthe nut to form a bearing for said nut-bearing member.

5. In a rail joint, :1 splice bar fastened to both rails and having a longitudinal stiffening rib'extcnding along its outer face adjacent toits top, clamping bolts and nuts, and a nut-bearing member engaging the outer face of the bar, said stiffening rib having a concave upper face inclined downwardly and outwardly from the lower outer ed eof the rail head and an outer face inc ined downwardly and inwardly, said nut-bearing member 'lying wholly below the top of the nuts, and being of sufficient thickness to space the overlapping nuts a sufiicient distance from the bar to clear a portion of said rib substantially as described.

said bar having an outwardly extending (S. In a rail joint, :1. splice bar, said bar having a web member intersected by a vertioalplane at the outer edge of the rail head, and a T-llcad which extends to a substantially equal distance at each side of said portions of its upper surface lying outside of the'rail head sloping u werdly in o po- .5 'site'direction's to form a c annel ex'ten mg lengthwise of the'baZr in this'iup er surface,

said bar having a web intersected at the outer edge of the rail head-and a head port1on projecting substantially equal disby a plane tanoes beyond esch'side of said .web portion; 10 substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands. v

WILLIAM P. THOMSON. SAMUEL G. THOMSON. l Witnesses:

S. E. Pn'mnson, E. MONEAL. 

